DIDD's release of man leaves mom angry, worried

Feb. 19, 2014

Matthew Baker, seen with his mom, Marianne Webster, left a DIDD facility Thursday. / Courtesy of Marianne Webster

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Matthew Baker is pictured after he was shot nine times in October after slipping away from a DIDD-contracted agency. / Courtesy of Marianne Webster

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BROKEN TRUST: PART OF A CONTINUING SERIES

Matthew Baker’s mother is frantic.

On Thursday, Marianne Webster got a text from her 22-year-old son saying he was “free.” He had just been allowed to sign himself out of a Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities residential program in Cookeville, was given $100 in cash and simply walked away.

Baker has an IQ of 60 — a mind approximately equivalent to that of an 8-year-old. He has a history of violence toward himself and others, including multiple suicide attempts. He can speak well and appear charming, his mom said. But he once held a woman hostage for five hours. He was assessed by DIDD to be such a danger that he required two staff members watching him 24 hours per day. His caretakers were under orders to keep all knives locked up. He had slit his wrists a few months earlier.

The last time he had slipped away from a DIDD-contracted home in Memphis, he walked straight into trouble. Within hours, he had been shot nine times by an unknown assailant. That was Oct. 1. After a lengthy convalescence and a move to a new home with 24-hour care in Cookeville, his mother thought he was safe. She had filed for full legal guardianship and expected to obtain it in the next few weeks.

“I feel like I’ve been to hell and back,” Webster said of her emotions since receiving the text from her son. “I’ve worried myself sick. I can’t hardly eat. The stress is horrible. I just continuously worry. I can’t even hardly think.”

Webster said she is most upset that neither the department nor D&S Community Services, the private contractor that operates the home her son was living in last week, had contacted her — even though they were aware she was pursuing conservatorship and had placed strict guidelines for his care because of his dangerous tendencies.

“I don’t understand it,” Webster said, “especially when they tell me, ‘We know he’s dangerous.’ They knew he was dangerous when they signed him out, but they said they couldn’t stop him. … And no one ever told me.”

D&S declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality. A DIDD spokeswoman said the agency can share information only with the consent of the person being served, who is entitled to make his or her own choice about whether to continue to receive care.

“If a person is legally competent, that person has the right to choose whether he or she wants to be served in the waiver,” said spokeswoman Cara Kumari, who noted that people who choose to leave are offered counseling about all the potential consequences of their decision. Kumari said the department can share information about someone it is serving with family members only “when and if the person gives consent.”

The department has come under criticism in recent months from disability rights advocates and lawmakers. A critical audit by the state comptroller highlighted a series of problems, including the department’s violation of state law requiring it to provide services to people with developmental disabilities and its long waiting list for people seeking services. A Tennessean investigation has reported more, including escalating costs and poor conditions at Clover Bottom Developmental Center, a Nashville institution state officials promised to close years ago, and a high number of deaths of former residents of the institution once they left.

Individuals such as Baker are often among the most challenging to provide services to, said Carrie Hobbs Guiden, executive director of The Arc of Tennessee, which advocates for people with disabilities.

More capable people with intellectual disabilities often want to experience the freedoms they see others enjoying. Baker’s mother said he had used his $100 to buy a bus ticket to Memphis.

Baker’s mom has contacted police in Memphis, where she last heard from him. They cannot help her because he is an adult, she said. She got a call Monday from the mother of a young woman with intellectual disabilities her son visited in Memphis. The woman’s mom was disturbed at his behavior toward her daughter — he tried to kiss her multiple times — but she also was worried about his welfare and bought him a room for the night in a motel, Webster said.

Webster didn’t know what he would do Tuesday night.

“He’s very easily influenced,” said Webster, who lives in McMinnville. “He can’t make it out on his own. He’s going to end up hurt, killed, or he is going to hurt someone else.

“I don’t want to get a call in the middle of the night saying, ‘Your son was shot,’ or even dead. I care about him and love him. But he doesn’t know what’s best for him because he can’t see that far ahead.”

Reach Anita Wadhwani at 615-259-8092 and on Twitter at @AnitaWadhwani.